MOST of us would agree that the idea of being buried alive is unspeakably terrifying. This is the starting point of a dark thriller, Die Before You Die, which is getting its second local screening at Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre cinema on Tuesday 13th May, at 7.30pm, followed by a Q&A session with the director Dan Pringle, a Bournemouth-based film-maker.

The film, which had its first, sold-out, local screening at Poole in October, is partly a claustrophobic thrill ride, and partly a moving story of personal transformation.

Adi (Ziad Abaza) is a successful vlogger whose channel is his life. He’s vain, superficial and more concerned with his view count than the happiness of his adoring daughter. While out with his best friend and fellow vlogger pal Maz (Mim Shaikh), Adi is approached by Lee (Harry Reid), a fan who proposes that he partake in a historic challenge, to be buried alive for three whole days with barely enough water and oxygen to survive.

Eager to out-perform a rival, Adi jumps at the chance, but when he and Maz arrive at the agreed meeting place, it quickly becomes apparent that all is not what they had been told. They are introduced to a group of elders from the Middle East, revealed to be Sufis, members of a mysterious sect of Islamic mystics. When the group explain that the burial is to be part of an ancient ritual, Adi considers backing out, but Maz convinces him to see it through.

Blindfolded and transported to an unknown location, Adi lies in an L-shaped hole which is then filled with soil, sealing him six feet underground with nothing but an inch wide plastic pipe leading to the surface to provide air and light. A day passes without event until the group fails to return with his water delivery.

And when his air pipe is damaged, limiting his supply of oxygen, Adi begins to question the nature and motivations of the group. When no one arrives on day three to dig him back up, total desperation sets in.

With the question of who his tormentors are becoming less and less relevant, Adi battles impending dehydration, suffocation and his own inner demons, as he wrestles to stay alive and free himself from his prison within the earth.

The film had its premiere at Manchester Film Festival 2024 where it won awards for Best Director and Jury Prize Feature.